History, Opinions, Imaginings

Michaels and Michaels

The NFL playing careers of the talented rough-and-tumble Michaels’ brothers from Swoyersford, Pennsylvania were bookended by two seasons in Green Bay, one by each brother.

Older brother Walt Michaels was a 6’ 230 pound linebacker drafted out of Washington and Lee by the Browns in the seventh round of the 1951 draft. Green Bay acquired him during training camp for end Dan Orlich, but, oddly, both he and Orlich played in all 12 games for the Packers that year. The next year, Michaels was traded back to Cleveland for Dick Logan, Chubby Grigg and Zeke Costa. Logan spent two years in Green Bay, but Grigg did not make the team and Costa never played in the NFL. Meanwhile, Michaels went to five Pro Bowls and earned All-Pro notice five times in his ten years in Cleveland. Walt then coached in the league for two decades, including six years as the head coach of the Jets. He finished his career with two years coaching the NJ Generals of the USFL.

Younger brother Lou was a 6’2” 245 defensive end/left-footed kicker who was the fourth overall pick in the 1958 draft by the Rams. Lou spent three years in Los Angeles, three in Pittsburgh and six in Baltimore from 1958-69, scoring 912 points. He was a second team All-Pro in 1958, 1959 and 1962 and went to the Pro Bowl in 1962 and 1963. After being out of football in 1970, Michaels was given a tryout by Dan Devine in 1971 to improve the team’s horrible kicking situation of the past few years. Michaels scored 43 point for Green Bay in 10 games in his final NFL season. After football, Lou spent 20 years as the athletic director at a Pennsylvania prison.

The Michaels brothers careers spanned 21 years from 1951-71 and they began and ended that time in Green Bay on teams that finished 3-9 and 4-8-2 respectively.